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Board of Directors
Sheila Laursen- President
Sheila started off as a registered nurse before she joined the field of community development. Sheila was the first Coordinator for the West Island Community Resource Centre before beginning a 23-year career with the YMCA of Montreal, working as the Director of Community Programs, before becoming the Director of International Programs for the YMCAs of Quebec, until she retired. Since then, she has taken on a volunteer role with her church, Child Haven International, the YMCA, Meals on Wheels, TQSOI, Corbeille de pain, and helping refugees and asylum-seekers.
Warren Thomas- Treasurer
Warren started his accounting journey by working for some amazing companies including Fairfield and Ellis, Canadian International Paper and Kraft Foods. He and his wife have a strong sense of community, and after moving to Pointe-Claire in the 1980's, he ran as Councillor for Valois, serving not only as Councillor but also as Council’s representative on the Finance Committee. Since 2018, he has been the Treasurer for the West Island Citizens Advocacy. In 2020, he became the Accounting Advisor for the Valois United Church.
Geneviève Lussier- Secretary
Geneviève has been interested in the availability of good healthy food since university, where she was involved in the Frigo Vert and People’s Potato, two food security initiatives at Concordia. Since then, she has run bulk buying groups, participated in community kitchens, and has been running a suburban fruit harvesting group for 6 years, calledVergers chez nous, that donates a share of fruit to local non profits organizations, including Corbeille de pain. She is also an avid vegetable gardener who believes that having the opportunity to forage, grow, preserve and share homegrown food is a key component of ensuring food security.
Gary Spiller- Board Member
Gary is an ecologist, teacher and education consultant. He is currently developing outdoor education programs for elementary and high schools to increase environmental awareness on biodiversity, climate change and pollution issues. He has worked on nutrition education and food security projects. HE joined Corbeille de pain in 2016, and has participated in community kitchen activities and events. He represents Pointe Claire on the West Island Friends of the Environment Coalition. He is working to improve school safety, recycling, science education and special education programs.
Caroline is a Faculty Lecturer in the Department of Plant Science and Director of Internship. Her main interest is in ecological agriculture where she also conducts research on food security on the island of Montreal and on ecological agriculture practices and management. She is a committee member for the Margaret A. Gilliam Institute for Global Food Security of McGill University, mentor to the Macdonald Student-Run Ecological Garden, president of the Marché Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Vice president of École-O-Champ, an agricultural education organization which is the official representative of Agriculture in the Classroom Canada (AITC) in Quebec.
Caroline Begg (PhD)- Board Member
Isabelle Dallaire - Board Member
Isabelle has lived for over 20 years in Pointe-Claire, where she also co-founded Daly-Dallaire Translation Services. . One of her passions is pottery, and over the years she has donated some of her creations to our Empty Bowls fundraiser, which is how she got to know us. Her skills, energy and passion towards the well-being of our community can be seen through her enthusiasm towards being an advocate for food security.
Stephanie Childs - Board Member
Stephanie has a background in conflict transformation, collaborative decision-making and alternative governance developed over a decade of working in food justice movements. With experience in grassroots, community service and national policy levels, she understands the need to bridge strategic priorities with the reality of front line work. In her current role as lead on community engagement and shared power at Concordia's SHIFT Centre for Social Transformation, she is focused on co-developing organizational structures that are responsive to insight from diverse perspectives and world views.
Karina is a high-energy professional with proven leadership skills and a record of success in a variety of diverse businesses in both profit and non-profit environments as well as in athletic environments. Her passions include food, cooking, traveling and being involved in helping vulnerable communities whether it's by volunteering at Happy Healthy Cooks, Calling All Angels or when she worked for the Refugee and Immigration services. Karina is thrilled to be part of Corbeille de pain where she strives to learn and to share her passion and skills with the West Island Community.
Karina Renaud - Board Member
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